The firste [laste] volume of the chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande conteyning the description and chronicles of England, from the first inhabiting vnto the conquest : the description and chronicles of Scotland, from the first original of the Scottes nation till the yeare of our Lorde 1571 : the description and chronicles of Yrelande, likewise from the first originall of that nation untill the yeare 1571 / faithfully gathered and set forth by Raphaell Holinshed.

Of the Marueyles of Englande. Cap. 18.

SVch as haue written of the woonders of our countrie in olde time, haue spoken no doubt of many things which deserue no cre∣dite at all, and therefore in séeking thanckes of their posteritie by their trauayle in thys behalfe, they haue reaped the rewarde of iust reproch, and in steade of fame purchased vn∣to thēselues, nought else but méere discredit in theyr better Treatizes. The lyke commō∣lye happeneth also to such as in respect of lu∣cre doe publishe vnprofitable and pernicious volumes, whereby they doe consume theyr tymes in vayne, and in manifolde wyse be∣come preiudicial vnto their cōmon we•…•…thes: For my part therefore, hauing (I hope) the feare of God before my eyes, I purpose here to set downe no more, thē either I know my selfe to be true, or am credible informed to be so, by such godly men, as to whom nothing is more deare then to speake the truth, & not any thing more odious then to defile them∣selues by lying. In writing therefore of the woonders of England, I finde that there are foure notable thinges, which for their rare∣nesse amongst the cōmon sort, are takē for the foure myracles & woonders of the lande. The first of these, is a vehement & strong wynde, which issueth out of certaine hilles called the Peke, so violent & strong that certaine times if a man do cast in his cote or cloake into the caue frō whence 〈◊〉〈◊〉 issueth, it driueth y^e same backe againe hoysing it aloft into the open ayre with great force and vehemencie. Of this also Giraldus speaketh. The seconde is the myraculous standing or rather hanging of certaine stones vpon the playne of Salis∣bury, wherof the place is called Stonehēge, and to say the truth, they may well be woon∣dered at, not onely for the maner of position, whereby they become very difficult to be nū∣bered, but also for their greatnesse & strong maner of lying of some of them one vpon an other, which séemeth to be with so ticle holde that fewe men go vnder them without feare of their present ruyne. Howe and when these stones were brought thyther, as yet I can not reade, howbeit it is most likely that they were raysed there by the Brytons after the slaughter of their nobilitie at the deadly ban∣ket, which Hengest and his Saxons prouided for them, where they were also buried and Vortigerme, their king apprehended & ledde away as captiue: I haue hearde that the like are to be séene in Irelande, but how true it is as yet I can not learne•…•…the report goeth also that these were brought from thence but by what shippe on the sea and caryage by land, I thinke few men can imagine. The third is an ample and large hole vnder the ground, which some call Carcer Eoli, but in English Chedderhole, where into many men haue en∣tred and walked very farre. Howbeit, as the passage is large and nothing noysome, so di∣uers that haue aduentured to go into y^e same coulde neuer as yet find the end of that way, neyther sée any other thing then pretie riue∣rettes and streames, which they often cros∣sed as they went from place to place: Thys Chedderhole or Cheder rocke, is in Somer∣setshyre, and thence the sayde waters runne til they méete with the second aye that riseth in Owky hole. The fourth is no lesse nota∣ble then any of the other, for westwarde vp∣pon certaine hils a man shall sée the clowdes of raine gather togither in faire weather vn∣to a certaine thickenesse, & by & by to spreade themselues abroade, and water their fieldes about them, as it were vpon the sodaine, the causes of which dispersion, as they are vtter∣ly vnknowne, so many men coniecture great store of water to be in those hilles, and very néere at hand, if it were néedeful to be sought for. Beside these foure marueyles there is a litle rocky Isle in Aber barry (a riueret that falleth into the Sauerne sea) called Barry, which hath a rift or clift next the first shore, whereunto if a man doe lay his eare, he shall heare such noyses as are commonly made in smithes forges vz. clincking of yron barres, beating with hammers, blowing of bellow∣ces, and such like, whereof the superstitious sorte doe gather many toyes, as the gentiles dyd in olde tyme of their lame God Vulca∣nes potte. The riuer that runneth by Che∣ster chaungeth hir chanel euery moneth, the cause whereof as yet I cannot learne, ney∣ther doth swell by force of any lande floude, but by some vehement winde, it oft ouerrū∣neth hir banckes. In Snowdony are twoo lakes, whereof one beareth a mooueable I∣slande, which is caryed to & fro as the winde bloweth, the other hath thrée kindes of fishes in it, as éeles, trowtes, & perches, but herein resteth the woonder, that all those haue but one eye a péece onely, and the same scituate in the right side of their heades, & this I find to be confirmed by authours. There is a Well in the forrest of Guaresborow, where∣of the sayd forrest doth take the name, which in a certaine periode of time knowne, cōuer∣teth wood, flesh, leaues of trées, and mosse in∣to harde stone, without alteratiō or chaung∣ing

of shape. The lyke also is séene there in frogges, wormes, and such lyke lyuing cre∣atures as fall into the same, & find no ready issue. Of this spring also Lelād writeth thus, a litle aboue March, but at the farder bank of Nidde ryuer as I came, I sawe a Well of woonderfull nature, called Dropping wel, because the water thereof Distilleth out of great rockes harde by into it continuallye, which is so colde, and thereto of such nature, that what thing soeuer falleth out of y^e rocks into this pitte, or groweth néere thereto, or be cast into it by mans hande, it turneth in∣to stone. It maye be saith he, that some sand or other fine groūd issueth out w^t this water, from these harde rockes, which cleauing vn∣to those thynges, gyueth them in tyme the fourme of stone▪ &c. In parte of the hylles east southeast of Alderly, a myle frō Kinges∣woode, are stones daily founde, perfitly fashi∣oned like cocles, and mighty Oysters, which some dreame to haue lyen there since y^e floud. In the cliftes betwéene the blacke heade and Trewardeth baie in Cornwal, is a certeine caue, where thinges appéere lyke ymages gilded, on the sides of the same, which I take to be nothing else but the shining of y^e bright Ore of copper & ther mettals, redy at hād to be foūd ther, if any diligēce were vsed. How∣beit bicause it is marueled at as a rare thing I do not think it vnmete to be placed amōgst our woonders. M. Guise had of late and styll hath for ought y^t I knowe, a maner in Glo∣cester shyre, where certeine okes doe grow, whose rootes are verye harde stone. And be syde thys the grounde is so fertyll there as they saye, that if a man hews a stake of anye woode, and pitche it into the grounde, it wyll growe and take rooting beyond all expectati∣on. Is it any woonder think you to tel of sun∣drye caues néere vnto Browham, on the west side of the ryuer Aymote, wherein are halles, chambers, and al offices of houshold, cut out of the harde rocke. If it be, then maye we increase the number of marueyles very much by the rehearsall of other also, for wée haue many of y^e like, nere as of to s. Asaphes, vpō the bank of Elwy, and about the head of Vendrath vehan in Wales, whereinto men haue often entered and walked, & yet founde nothing but large rowmes, & sandy ground vnder their féete, and other elsewhere. But sith these thinges are not strange, I let them alone, and go forward with the rest.

In the paryshe of Landsarnam in wales, and in the side of a stony hil, is a place wher∣in are foure and twentye seates, hewen out of the harde rockes, but who did cut them, & to what ende, as yet it is not learned. As for the huge stone that lyeth at Pember, in Guythery parish, and of the notable carkas that is affirmed to lye vnder the same, there is no cause to touch it here, yet were it well done to haue it remooued though it were but onely to sée what it is, which the people haue in so greeat estimation & reuerence. There is also a poole in Logh Taw, among y^e black mounteines in Breknocke shyre, (where as some saye, is the head of Taw that commeth to Swansey) which hath such a property that it will bréede no fishe at all, and if any be cast into it, they dye without recouerye. There is also a Linne in Wales, which in the one side beareth trowtes so redde as samons, and on the other which is the westerlye side, ve∣ry white and delicate.

There is a Well not farre from stonye Stratforde, which conuerteth many things into the stone, and another in Wales, which is sayde to double or trible, the force of any edge toole that is quenched in the same. In Tegeuia a percell of Wales, there is a no∣ble Well, I meane in the parysh of Kilken, which is of marueilous nature, for although it be sixe myles from the Sea, it ebbeth and floweth, twise in one daye, alwayes ebbyng when the sea doth vse to flowe, & in flowing likewise when the sea doth vse ebbe, whereof some doe fable, that this Well is lady & my∣sterys of the Oceane. Not far from thence also is a medicinable spring, called Schy∣naunt of olde time, but nowe Wenefrides Wel, in the edges wherof doth bréede a very odoriferous and delectable mosse, wherewith the heade of the smeller is marueylouslye re∣freshed. Other Welles we haue lykewise, which at some times burst out into huge streames, though at other seasons they run but very softly, whereby the people gather some alteratiō of estate to be at hand. Some of the greater sort also giue ouer to runne at all in such times, whereof they conceyue the like opinion. What the foolish people dreame of the hell Kettles, it is not worthy the reher∣sall, yet to the ende the lewde opinion con∣ceyued of them, maye growe into contempt, I will say thus much also of those pits. Ther are certeine pittes or rather thrée litle poles, a myle from Darlington, and a quarter of a myle distant from the These bankes, which y^e people call the Kettes of hell, or the deuils Ketteles, as if he shoulde sée the soules of sin∣full men and women in them: they adde also that the spirites haue oft béene harde to crye and yell about them, wyth other like talke sauouring altogether of pagane infidelitye. The truth is (& of this opiniō also was Cuth∣bert Tunstall Byshop of Durham) that the

Colemines, in those places are kindled or if there be no coles, there may a mine of some other vnctuous matter be set on fire, which beyng here and there consumed, the earth falleth in, and so doth leaue a pitte. In déede the water is nowe and then warme as they saye, and beside that it is not cléere, the peo∣ple suppose them to be an hundred faddame déepe, the byggest of them also hath an issue into the These. But ynough of these woon∣ders least I doe séeme to be touched in thys description, & thus much of the hel Kettles.

There is a Well in Darby shyre, called Tiddeswell, whose water often séemeth to ryse and fall, as the Sea which is fortye mile from it: doth vsually accustome to ebbe and flowe, and hereof an opinion is grow∣en, that it kéepeth an ordinary course, as the sea doth, howbeit sith dyuers are knowne to haue watched the same, it may be y^t at some∣times it ryseth but not continually, and that it so doth I am fullye perswaded to beléeue. But ynough of the woonders lest I do séeme by talking longer of them, woonderouslye to ouershoote my selfe, and forget howe much doth rest behynde of the dyscription of my countrey.

Notes

• •…•…oure •…•…onders Eng∣•…•…de.